Drop box picker



Jab. 28, 1941. J. H. CHADBOURNE DROP BOX PICKER Filed Nov. 15, 1938 INVENTOR BYW MW 5% TTORNEY A Patented Jan. 28, 1941 DROP BOX PICKER Joseph H. Chadbourne, Danielson, Conn, assignor to The Danielson Mfg. Company, a corporation of Connecticut Application November 15, 1938, Serial'No. 240,485

6 Claims.

My present invention relates to textile apparatus, and has particular reference to a novel construction for a drop box picker.

It is the principal object of my invention to provide a novel drop box picker which has great resistance to breakage and to wear.

Another object of my invention is to provide a drop box picker that is inherently resilient, so as to minimize the shock of shuttle impact.

An additional object of my invention is to provide a picker which minimizes wear on the picking mechanism.

Another object of my invention is to provide a rawhide picker having the grain of the rawhide positioned to obtain greater resistance to impact and to prevent spreading resulting from impact.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a picker having a high factor of safety by utilizing a construction which provides a large wearing surface for contact with the picker stick.

With the above and other objects and advantageous features in view, my invention consists of a novel arrangement of parts more fully disclosed in the detailed description following, in conjunction'with the accompanying drawing, and more specifically defined in the claims appended thereto.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the novel drop box picker.

Fig. 2 is an end elevation thereof;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the body strip;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the bottom strip;

Fig. 5 is a view of a modified construction;

Fig. 6 is a view of a further modified construction;

Fig. 7 is a view of a still further modified construction; and

Fig. 8 is a view of a construction such as shown in Fig. 1, modified to control the resilience of the impacting head.

It has been found desirable to provide a drop box picker having increased longevity and increased resistance to wear, to cope with the Tspeed up of present-day textile machinery.

Whereas the previously used types of textile machinery operated at from 50 to 60 picks per minute, the present-day standard has arisen to 125 picks per minute, and textile looms of special design operate at from 175 to 200 picks per minute. This increased speed of operation produces a rapid failure of the old types of drop box pickers, which break at the barrel, or spread at the point of impact of the shuttle, or fail at both points. Moreover, standard types of rawhide pickers have a tendency to loosen and break the rivets after extended use, resulting in a drag of the rivets on the sliding parts, and an enlarging of the picker shaft bore, thus increasing the tendency to failure. 5

I have found itdesirable to provide a picker. construction which may be used for either reversible or non-reversible pickers, and which utilizes a rawhide'construction arranged so as to place the rain of the rawhide in a position to 1,0; resist the impact force and the spreading tendency resulting from impact of the shuttle, the parts being positioned so as to produce a slightly yielding resilient blow, thus increasing the life of the picker and minimizing the effect of the impact.

Referring to the drawing, the novel picker l0 consists of a plurality of rawhide strips I I, shaped as shown in Fig. 3, and arranged in substantially parallel relation as shown in Fig. 1, the upper head portions I2 being secured together by means of a plurality of rivets l3. An intermediate connector portion M of the strip 12 functions as a flexible bridge portion [5, seeFig. 1, the lower base portion l6 of the strips l2 being spaced apart as shown, and riveted by means of rivets IT to bottom strips l8, which as illustrated are of U- shape. Suitable shaft passageways or bores I9 are provided extending through the base portions 15 and through the upstanding portions 2! of the 39 bottom strips [8, rivets 20 being provided to securely lock the base portions l6 and the upstanding ends 2| of the bottom strips. The rivets are preferably countersunk.

The above described construction thus provides a drop box picker which is formed of a plurality of contiguous rawhide strips, the head portions of the strips being of relatively large area and securely riveted together so as to provide an improved impact head for impacting the shuttle, 40 the bridge or neck portions being arranged in bridge formation so as to impart a desired degree of resiliency to the head, the amount of resilience being preferably controlled by regulating the number of strips and the width of the neck portions M, the bases of the strips and the cooperating upstanding ends 2| on the bottom strips providing a firm base for slidably engaging the picker shaft. Since the size of the base portions l5 and the upstanding ends 2| may be made as large as is desirable, a very sturdy, long life, impact base is provided forengaging the usual resillent/washers and springs customarily positioned on the ends of the shaft for stopping the picker at the ends of the strokes, thus minimizing wear on the picker itself.

The use of parallel strips of rawhide in the impact faces permits the grain of the rawhide to be arranged so that the grain of the adjacent strips cooperate together and thus increase resistance to impact and resistance to wear. Moreover, because the adjacent arrangement of the head portions forms laminations, the impact of the shuttle ends merely produces conical indentations in the head, the resistance to the penetration thus increasing as the wear increases so that the life of the picker head is greatly increased. Since the body portion of the picker is also arranged with the grain of the strips in parallel relation, resistance to wear produced by sliding on the picker shaft is also greatly increased; and failure of any one strip does not produce failure of the picker, as the contiguous strips are ample to provide the necessary bearing surface. Resistance to turning or twisting of the picker is also increased due to the provision of adjacent parallel strips or laminations in the base, and this resistance in turning is also increased by the novel bridge construction, which permits a slight yielding, or resilient movement of the head with respect to the base.

The use of parallel rawhide strips to form the picker thus eliminates or greatly obviates the difficulties encountered with standard type pickers, eliminates splitting of the picker head at the point of impact of the shuttle, eliminates failure of the picker barrel, and strongly resists loosening and the breaking of the rivets and resulting drag of the rivets on the sliding parts. There is also very little possibility of failure of the picker due to grain failure of the rawhide itself, and no spreading of the rawhide laminations.

Although I have disclosed the novel picker as being formed of strips of rawhide, riveted together as described and illustrated, other securing means may be used, and metal reinforcements or reinforcements of other suitable materials may be provided wherever found desirable. Thus, metal bushings may be readily positioned in the shaft bores l9 if desired, and metal reinforcement strips may be used with the bottom portions, or included with the body strips.

If any increased resistance to bending or yielding of the head with respect to the body portions is desired, the strips may be channeled or ridged to increase their stiffness, or a picker 22 such as disclosed in Fig. 5 may be used, the picker being formed of a plurality of adjacent strips 23, as heretofore described, spaced to provide a bridge portion 24 therebetween as heretofore described, a supporting bridge portion 25 being inserted to back up and support the bridge portion 24, the supporting bridge portion 25 being of any suitable material, and preferably of strips of rawhide, joined together as heretofore described, the parts all being riveted together as by suitable rivets 26. Or a picker such as illustrated at 21 in Fig. 6 may be utilized, having the general picker formation heretofore described, and having an auxiliary bottom portion 28 formed of any suitable material, and preferably of strips of rawhide 29 bent in U-shape, the upstanding ends 30 of the auxiliary strips of rawhide being positioned between and riveted to the base portions of the picker strips by means of rivets 30. For certain constructions, the auxiliary bottom portion may be reversed upside down.

In certain types of constructions, the picker may be made of integral elongated strips, properly shaped, and bent so as to form a picker 3|, illustrated in Fig. '7, made of a plurality of adjacent strips 32 which are bent so as to provide an integral bottom 33, the head portion and the body portion being suitably riveted together as by rivets 34. Instead of stiffening the bridge as shown in Fig. 5, any other desired means for controlling the resilience of the bridge portion may be utilized; another form found successful is illustrated in Fig. 8, the picker 35 having a bridge portion 36 which has a strengthening support 3! locked in suitable openings in the sides thereof, this support being of any suitable material, and preferably of rawhide.

Referring now to all the modifications illustrated, it is obvious that the essence of the invention is to provide a picker made of a plurality of rawhide strips arranged to provide a resilient bridge portion so as to soften and reduce the effect of the impact on the head of the picker, the base laminations further increasing the effective life of the picker by reducing the tendency to tllll'l and twist on the picker shaft, and thus cause barrel failure. Moreover, the spacing of the parts at the base of the picker permits ventilation, and the picker thus has an air flow therethrough and runs cooler.

The use of parallel laminations as disclosed provides a structure in which the grain of the rawhide remains continuous, and is not cut to destroy the continuity, whereby the strength of the picker is greatly increased. The laminations also permit insertion of a lubricant-bearing or graphited strip, if desired, particularly in the base parts, so as to provide a self-lubricating bearing on the picker shaft.

While I have described specific constructional embodiments of my invention, it is obvious that changes in the shape of the parts, in their size, their relative arrangement, and the materials used therefor, and in the use of strengthening materials, may be made to suit the requirements for different picker designs without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An article of manufacture comprising an impact head, a bifurcated bridge, and spaced bases, said bases having aligned shaft passageways therethrough, said head, bridge, and bases being built up of strips of laminated material each having a head portion, a narrow resilient bridge portion, and a base portion.

2. An article of manufacture comprising an impact head, a resilient bifurcated bridge, spaced bases, and a section connecting said spaced bases, said head, bridge, and bases being built up of strips of laminated material each having a head portion, a narrow resilient bridge portion, and a base portion.

3. A picker comprising laminated strips of rawhide, said strips each having a head portion, a narrow bridge portion, and a base portion, said head portions being secured together to form a head and said bridge portions being arranged to form two laminated diverging resilient bridge parts and two spaced laminated base parts.

4. An article of manufacture comprising an impact head, a bifurcated bridge, and spaced bases, said bases having aligned shaft passageways therethrough, said head, bridge, and bases being built up of longitudinally arranged strips of laminated rawhide each having a head portion, a' narrow resilient bridge portion, and a base.

5. An article of manufacture comprising an impact head, a resilient bifurcated bridge, spaced bases, and a section connecting said spaced bases, said head, bridge, and bases being built up of longitudinally arranged strips of laminated rawhide each having a head portion, a narrow resilient bridge portion, and a base portion.

6. A picker comprising longitudinally arranged laminated strips of rawhide, said strips each having a head portion, a narrow bridge portion, and a base portion, said head portions being secured together to form a head and said bridge portions being arranged to form two laminated diverging resilient bridge parts and two spaced laminated base parts.

JOSEPH H. CHADBOURNE, 

